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K.F.C., fries, and beer at O.B. Town

Had a hankering for Korean fried chicken tonight, so we headed over to try Oriental BBQ Chicken Town (OB Town for short). We ordered the Garlic Soy Fried Chicken (about $16), an order of garlic fries ($7), and a "pitcher" of O.B. (Oriental Brewery) beer (really just a giant plastic bottle, WAY bigger than a 40, and too much for my wife and me--both of us lightweights--to finish, for like $11).

The food here is not refined, to say the least, but quite tasty. The fries were like steak fries and were clearly of the frozen variety, but came topped with lots of fresh garlic bits. The chicken didn't have that super-crisp magical frying touch I associate with the best KFC (my gold standard is the branch of the Bon Chon chain in Fort Lee, NJ), but it was quite good. It was still pretty crispy, and the sauce was very tasty, though it ended up being more of a dipping sauce on the plate rather than something melded cohesively onto the skin of the chicken.

Anyone tried any of the other flavors here? I read some mostly negative reports about the grilled chicken options.

Some pickled daikon radish and a generic lettuce salad w/ Asian dressing came on the side, both refilled whenever we ran out. The diced radish is good to have to cut the heaviness of the fried stuff.

Portions were large. We finished everything (except the beer), but we were totally stuffed--the amount of food probably could have fed three people with small to medium appetites.

Definitely seems like more of a late night spot. We were there shortly after they opened at 5:00, and no one else came in until close to 6:00. They're open until 1:00 a.m. If I were still young and in the habit of hitting up the clubs, this would be the PERFECT place to grab some munchies after a night of dancing and carousing.

Ah, those were the days...

This is the first Korean fried chicken I've had in the East Bay. Is there another place people like better?

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